Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Here's the maple-glazed tempeh recipe from Thanksgiving. Fortunately, the weather is usually fine here for grilling outside, but I expect it could also be done on a griddle or grill pan indoors. You'll probably want to make a double-batch, 'cause it's crazy good both on its own and as a sandwich filling.

The Process:
With tempeh flat on the cutting board, cut each block in half, then cut each half into 2 triangles. You now have 8 chubby triangles. Halve each triangle horizontally to make 16 thin triangles.

Monday, November 23, 2009

I don't know why I love reading defenses of veganism so much, I guess because it's kind of lonely being vegan sometimes. Anyway, it’s rare to see a New York Times editorial about veganism, especially one that isn’t dripping with derision for vegans, so yesterday’s op-ed by Gary Steiner, “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable,” made my day. Bravo.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

My husband is generally the cookie-monster in my family, which means he’s also typically the cookie-maker. But he’s busy studying for the GRE, and I needed a little sugar fix to round out my weekend, so I made these chocolate-chip coconut cookies.They are less sweet than most cookies I’m used to, with a firm, almost biscuity texture. I rolled them in unsweetened, untoasted coconut, and the coconut on the bottoms of the cookies toasted while the cookies baked, but toasting the coconut before rolling would work really well, too, and would probably make the cookies look a bit less anemic. This recipe was adapted from one in Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano’s Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar. Makes about 20 cookies.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

I didn’t feel like cooking this week, so I made a giant pot
of soup on the weekend that we can reheat all week for lunches and
dinners. It’s a mildly-spicy sweet
potato and peanut soup, very creamy and delicious though not exactly healthy
with its peanut butter and coconut milk broth.

The ingredients (for a HUGE batch—I cook it in a canning
kettle. A normal soup pot’s worth would
probably be a 1/3 batch.):

Friday, November 13, 2009

I just got my new tart pans, with wavy edges, handy removable bottoms, and super-slick nonstick coating. So I had to make a tart. I didn't feel like rolling pastry, so I went with a shortbread crust filled with pecans, caramel-y agave goo, and a bit of chocolate. So good it's like god in my mouth. Not that I would know. Anyway, this is scaled for a smallish (9-inch) tart pan, so you'd need to do some math to make it fill an 11-inch pan. My taste-testers--err, friends--thought it would make good mini tartlets, too. Next time I make it, I'll try a sprinkle of course sea salt on top to tone the sweetness down a notch.

The Process:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and toast pecans about 7 minutes, then let them cool completely.
2. Make crust: smash all the crust ingredients together with a pastry blender or food processor until it forms course crumbs. Press into tart pan. Bake @ 350 about 20 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden-brown.
3. Prepare Filling: in a saucepan over med-high heat, bring sugar, agave, margarine, soy milk, and liqueur to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in toasted pecans.
4. When crust is done, sprinkle chocolate chips over it. Pour in the agave-pecan goo, and return to the oven. Bake about 25 minutes.

Just so you know:
If you fill the tart too full, the agave goo will bubble over the top when it bakes, and burn on your oven floor, making lots and lots of smoke. At least the smoke will smell pretty good since it's all sugary and pecan-infused.
I made some chocolate ganache to drizzle over the top of the tart in pretty stripes. You could also just sprinkle chocolate chips on top.